


in the presence of mine enemies

by runawaynun



Category: The Expanse (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Misses Clause Challenge, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:14:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21653599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/runawaynun/pseuds/runawaynun
Summary: When things go wrong during peace talks between Earth and Mars, Drummer and Avasarala are forced to work together.
Relationships: Chrisjen Avasarala & Camina Drummer
Comments: 14
Kudos: 38
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	in the presence of mine enemies

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SugarFey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SugarFey/gifts).



Avasarala sighed as she pulled on the deep blue gown in front of the mirror, which was far more elaborate than what she usually wore. Now that she was Secretary General, she had a group of people the same size as her grandson’s football team to make her look like what society deemed appropriate for a woman in power to look like. It irritated her to no end. The only advantage she could find to in holding the peace talks between Mars and Earth at Tycho station was that she left behind all but two of them. She shooed away the young woman fussing with the last touches of her makeup. "That's enough for tonight, Roksana. Go have some fun. At least one of us should."

Good. Now she had a few minutes to herself before she would be on display again. She went to the communications center in her quarters and keyed in a familiar number. "Arjun, I miss you and the grandchildren. Hopefully, this will be quick, but you know as well as I do how slow matters between Earth and Mars go. Send stories of the garden and kids, even your fucking cricket team. I need something to keep me awake when the Martian Prime Minister starts droning on. I love you." She kissed her fingertips and pressed them to the screen before ending her message.

Avasarala's newly minted ambassador to a now free and independent Tycho station, Sunan Becker, was shown in by her personal aide. "Remind me why I agreed to told hold these talks here?" Avasarala asked him as they walked to the entrance of her quarters.

"Because Fred Johnson has saved both Mars and Earth's asses from the protomolecule."

"And now I am here to eat some crow."

"And to try to remain on friendly terms with the Belt."

Avasarala didn't feel like a such a basic diplomatic principle needed acknowledgment. "Have you ever eaten crow, Sunan? Not metaphorically - the actual bird."

"No, I have not, ma'am."

Avasarala grimaced. "English has so many fucking nonsensical idioms."

He was saved from answering by the arrival of her official escort from Tycho. Avasarala sized up the woman in front of her. Small and slight, her hair was tightly braided and she possessed one of the more unique Belter tattoos Avasarala had seen on her neck. The woman's eyes and her demeanor warned the world not to fuck with her. Her briefing on the leaders on Tycho gave her factual information, but only face-to-face meetings allowed her to make a full assessment. Good, it looked like Fred Johnson hadn't sent someone that she could scare away.

"Madam Secretary, I'm Captain Drummer and I'm head of security here at Tycho. I'm here to escort you to the summit’s opening ceremony.” Avasarala could hear the displeasure in Drummer's voice.

"Thank you, Captain. Lead the way." And oh, shit she had forgotten what it was like to walk in the lower gravity in the common area of a Belter station. She felt like a drunk with two left feet. "Tell me, Captain, what exactly are you captain of? I wasn't aware the OPA had a formal navy."

"Did you see the ship on your way here? It's mine."

"The _Nauvoo_?” The fact that she didn't know that it was once again operational meant that UN Intelligence needed to turn its attention back to the Belt instead of the colonoscopy it was giving Mars.

"The _Behemoth_ ,” Drummer replied with a grin that bared her teeth.

They couldn't be turning that monstrosity into a warship, could they? "What does the OPA need with a generation ship?"

Drummer shrugged. "Fred'll let you know."

That was goddamn frustrating. Avasarala made mental notes to both ask Fred Johnson and her head of intelligence how the OPA possessed a fucking huge ship without anyone one on Earth telling her. Errinwright must have reallocated the bulk of intelligence away from the Belt and she had become too reliant on her uneasy détente with Johnson. Distracted, she forgot the difference in gravity, stepped wrong, and her feet were caught up in the longer than usual hem of her gown. She was only saved from sprawling face first when Drummer caught her by her upper arm. "Shit! This fucking gown. I can see why you wear jumpsuits."

"You could always wear one."

"It would be worth it just for the aggravation it would cause a large portion of my staff. Wait a few seconds, I need to straighten out this - "

A tremendous blast interrupted her. Before the shockwave slammed her into the station's wall, Avasarala realized that the blast probably would have been fatal if she hadn't stumbled.

*

The first sensation Avasarala felt was a sharp, searing pain in her left thigh. The second was Drummer shaking her shoulder. “ _Pashang_! Wake up, you stubborn old bitch. I know you're still alive."

"I didn't know you thought so highly of me, Camina." Avasarala groaned. "What happened?"

"There was an explosion." Avasarala made an impatient sound. "Luckily, we ended up on the right side of the pressurization wall. Unfortunately, we are nearly cut off from the rest of the station and comms aren't working."

"Where's Becker?"

"I don't know. All I know he's not here."

There was still hope that he was alive, although that seemed overoptimistic. "Do we know what caused it?"

"You do remember that I told you we were cut off from the station and the comms weren't working?"

Avasarala ignored that. "What do you mean 'almost'?"

"The only way out is through the vents. And you're injured." Drummer gestured to Avasarala's thigh. "I did have to cut your fancy outfit in order to remove the shrapnel. You'll live."

Avasarala could see the wrap around her thigh in the dim emergency lighting, where the skirt of her gown was slit to her upper thigh. Blood dripped onto the bandage. It wasn't hers. "You're hurt."

Drummer wiped the blood away from the gash above her eye. "It's just a cut. Couldn't see where to put the bandage and didn't want to waste them. Bleed like a motherfucker, though."

"Here. Give me the first aid kit. I can bandage it."

Drummer handed her the kit. "Do you even know how?"

"I raised children, Camina." Avasarala could feel Drummer going rigid with the use of her given name while she cleaned and bandaged the cut. "I know how to care for cuts. Look, no more blood in your eyes."

"You're not completely useless." Drummer's voice let Avasarala know just how close to useless she thought Avasarala was.

The two women held still as they heard shouting near them. Avasarala was about to call out when she heard the unmistakable sound of gunshots. There was no way to know who was shooting and what the situation on the station was. Or who even set off the explosion. "Fuck."

"Do you think you can move? Because I am not sitting here waiting for my death."

"Give me the pain medication." Drummer jammed the needle into Avasarala's thigh. The pain receded to a dull ache. "Help me up." The two of them levered Avasarala up from her sitting position. She was never so goddamn happy for the low gravity of the station as now. Putting weight on the leg made Avasarala hiss. The pain went from dull ache to a jabbing pain.

"You - "

"I can do it. Just have to take care of something first. Hand me those scissors." Avasarala cut off everything below mid-calf of her gown. "I should be able to crawl through the fucking walls now."

"Before we do that, take off all that glittery jewelry. Unless you like getting shot at."

"Goddamnit, again. Fucking space," Avasarala grumbled as she pulled off her earrings, necklace and rings.

"Do you know how many people that would feed in the Belt?" Drummer asked coldly.

Irritated, Avasarala shoved the jewelry into Drummer's hands. "Take it. Tell them it's a gift from Earth."

Drummer glared at her before stuffing the jewels into one of her pockets. "Let's go, _Chrisjen _.__ We have a long way to go."

*

The pain in Avasarala's leg had transformed from jabbing to shooting to searing. In addition to that, her knees felt like massive bruises, unused to crawling on a hard surface. As she followed Drummer, she wished that she created an excuse to bring Bobbie along on this fucking awful trip. Not only would she be reassured by Bobbie's ability to kill someone with her bare hands, Bobbie liked Avasarala and was less inclined to kill her. But Bobbie was where she needed to be, reintegrating into the Martian marines.

In order to take her mind off of her pain, she started to replay the old games her father used to play with her. Although they had been more tests of her knowledge than a true game. She started with listing the members of the General Assembly, followed by the economic interest zones on Earth in alphabetical order, and was on listing Earth's cities based on population when she ran into Drummer.

"If you let me get this grating off, we're at the storage locker."

"Thank fuck."

"Let me make sure there's nothing dangerous in there first."

"Fine."

Drummer pulled her body through the opening. Avasarala crawled to opening and peered out. After inspecting the room, Drummer turned to her and sighed. "Sticking your head out like that really defeats my trying not to get you killed."

"I'm not very patient," Avasarala replied while climbing out of the vent.

"Won't shed tears if you get killed."

"I'd be disappointed if you did."

Drummer grunted and made her way to the weapons locker. Avasarala walked to the first aid station and gave herself more pain medication. Sighing with relief, she sat down on a crate and assessed the damage. Her clothing was beyond repair. Her wound needed a fresh bandage. She was exhausted and desperately wanted a bath, but that would have to wait until she was back on Earth. Water rationing even affected the UN Secretary General when she was in the Belt.

Drummer used what looked like an ancient radio to emit sequences of clicks and beeps in what must be a code that Avasarala didn't know. Another thing to task UN intelligence to learn. Or they did know and didn't feel that it was important enough for her to know. She was still adjusting to going from the person who decided what information was necessary for the person in charge to know to being the person in charge. Drummer listened to the responding tones and static and replied. She turned to Avasarala. "The good news is that Fred maintains control of the operations room of the station. The bad news is that much of the rest of the station is under no one's control."

"What about the civilians?"

"If they know what's good for them, they're locked in their quarters. I also let Fred know you're still alive, so Earth doesn't panic and nuke us."

"Good. Getting nuked by my own government isn't a very dignified death."

Drummer rolled her eyes and handed Avasarala a bulb of water and ration bar. "Supper." She sat on the crate across from her.

Avasarala opened the water bulb and greedily drank. When she set it down next to her, she noticed for the first time the dried blood on her hands.

"Not the first time they were covered with Belter blood?" Drummer asked.

Avasarala looked Drummer in the eyes. She would not hide from her actions that she took to keep Earth safe and for the most part still believed had been necessary. "No, it's not." She pointed to the bloodstains on Drummer's jumpsuit. "I assume that's not the first time you've been stained with Earther blood, either."

Drummer crossed her arms. "No. I did what I did to survive."

"So did I."

"You only think you did. You've never been hungry a day in your life. You've never had outsiders come and strip away every single valuable thing from the place you live and leave you the dregs."

"You've never had to feed and protect billions of people, Camina."

"That's a convenient, well-worn excuse. But I see Earthers send Eros on a collision course with Earth. I see Earthers launch protomolecule hybrids toward Mars. Who shot those down? I kept billions safe, too, Chrisjen."

"And I am willing to work with anyone who does not want to harm Earth. But you know that there are factions within the Belt that do."

"Which means that you get to terrorize and dominate the entire Belt? For a few factions that may hurt you if they get through your massive defenses and not the millions of Belters who just want to live?"

Avasarala took a deep breath and reigned in her temper. She was exhausted and in pain and letting her emotions take over. "What Eros has taught me, what Io has taught me, what whatever that fucking thing that came out of Venus has taught me, is that all of humanity is going to have to work together. And to make that alliance work, Earth will have to make certain . . . concessions."

Drummer shook her head. "You've learned one lesson, maybe. But every time a Belter child die because of no food, no water, no oxygen, it's a wound. Every time a Belter ship stopped and searched because it Belter, it's a wound. Every resource stripped, every economy destroyed, every culture suppressed, it's a wound. You just give out flimsy bandages, wound not heal. Wound fester. Eventually, maybe now, maybe generations from now, those wounds erupt and pus get all over with horrific consequences for Earth and the Belt."

"There won't be much of the Belt left if that happens, that's for fucking sure."

"Eat. So you don't talk me into spacing you."

Avasarala scowled and took a large bite of the ration bar. Let Drummer just try to space her. She immediately regretted her action as the bar was aggressively bland. It was what she imagined eating plywood would taste like, but she'd be damned if she showed any weakness.

Although she must have briefly dozed off because she was startled when a man entered the room. Judging by the surprise on his face, he was not expecting to find anyone. Recognition and rage replaced surprise. "Avasarala, you traitor bitch!" He brought his gun up.

It was the last thing he did. Distracted, he never saw Drummer and she put a bullet in his forehead. “ _Felota_!" she cursed. "We have to get out of here before his friends realize he isn't coming back."

Drummer grabbed extra ammunition for gun. Avasarala picked up a bag and started to load it with food and water. "Do you know how to use a gun?" Drummer asked.

"Yes. For the most part."

"Take one. Try not to shoot yourself in the leg."

"We did learn something new," Avasarala said, sidestepping the corpse.

"Oh?"

"These are definitely Earth terrorists. It's those Earth First fuckers.

"If we live through this, you're gonna owe Fred a lot of money."

*

The goal was to get Avasarala to operations where Johnson had the Martian Prime Minister protected. She supposed if she had to be in this absolute clusterfuck of a situation, the best person to have with her was the person in charge of security for the station. Drummer knew every nook and cranny of Tycho and now that she knew the assholes that damaged the station were Earthers, she fucked with the artificial gravity in sections of the station to slow them down.

"If there were only Belters beside them, I lower oxygen. Earthers need so much more. But don't want to have to carry you to Fred."

Avasarala made a sour face. "Thanks for your consideration."

"Fred tell me to be nice to you." Drummer shrugged.

Avasarala felt her leg start to throb again. She stopped to take another dose out of her bag. Part of her wondered if she was taking too much too close together, but she figured she needed to get to Operations alive in order to regret that. And that required moving.

Drummer rounded a corner while Avasarala paused to tend her leg, so she was alone when she realized the fucking Earth First assholes had found her. "Hey, Avasarala, you traitorous bitch!" the tall one yelled at her.

Avasarala glanced toward Drummer who was looking at her with pure consternation. Drummer was hidden from the assholes' sight at least. She put her hands in the air, still holding the gun. "I'm alone. Don't shoot."

"Drop the gun!" Avasarala slowly put the gun on the ground.

"Where are your Belter friends?"

"No Belter would consider me their friend."

Drummer mouthed that Avasarala should keep them talking. She removed a cover to a vent and disappeared inside. For the first time since the explosion, Avasarala had a task she felt comfortable doing. "Why the fuck am I traitor?" she asked the three of them pointing guns at her.

“We listen to Jake Jacobson. We know the truth about you.You’re an unelected dictator! You're going to open death camps in the Sonoran desert! You're a Martian plant! You're going to give Luna to Mars and use it as a missile base to destroy Earth. You're too nice to Belters. After Eros, we should have made them pay for their attack on Earth!" the one with a purple mohawk charged.

Fuck. She knew where these ideas came from. Jacobson was a pirate radio station host, obsessed with conspiracy theories and her. The actual conspiracy that Mao and Errinwright had been in he paid no attention to except to accuse her of manufacturing it. She wished that she could ignore him, but the history of the 21st century warned her not to overlook demagogues. And, of course, the fucking situation she was in right now did, too. "What? I'm not a lizard person?"

"Lizard person? That's ridiculous," the short one said.

"Glad to have found something you find unbelievable."

"You have to stop letting Mars and the Belt do whatever they want. We have to put Earth first!"

"Or what?"

"We'll kill you," threatened the tall one.

Avasarala shrugged. "I don't see how killing me gets you what you want. Why would anyone give you what you want after you assassinated the Secretary General?"

"Because a true patriot will be in charge! No more groveling before Mars! No more 'peace treaties' with Belter terrorists!"

What the fuck was taking Drummer so long? Had she abandoned her with the universe's dumbest terrorists? "The best thing for Earth is peace."

"Peace is surrender!" the purple haired one exclaimed.

Drummer dropped out of the vent and shot the tall one in the head. After she landed, Drummer swept her legs and toppled the purple haired one. Before the short one could use his gun, Avasarala picked up her gun and shot him in the chest. Drummer disarmed her assailant by breaking his arm.

"You really do know how to use a gun." Drummer said with a nod. "You OK?"

"Fine. You?"

"I'll live."

Avasarala heard a noise behind her. She spun, pointing her gun at the source. "Whoa!" Fred Johnson exclaimed. He had about fifteen members of both Tycho and UN Security with him.

Avasarala let out a sigh and dropped her arms in relief. "Fucking finally. Took you long enough."

"Next time your citizens blow up my space station, I'll try to rescue you faster." He started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Avasarala asked, irritated.

"Drummer, any way we can get a photo of the Secretary General?"

Drummer made a noise shockingly similar to a laugh. Avasarala rolled her eyes. She could only imagine how she looked: clothes in tatters, hair wild, makeup long smudged all over and still clutching a gun.

"You can have all the pictures you want if Earth doesn't have to pay for these idiots' mistakes."

Johnson shook his head. "Too bad. Would have been a great picture."

*

Avasarala was waiting for someone to look at her leg in the med bay, since there were far more urgent injuries that needed tending to in the aftermath of the explosion and attempted siege. She was grateful for the time alone as she was exhausted. Johnson had promised her to delay the talks until she got at least five hours of sleep. Now, she would have to convince everyone in the UN to leave her alone long enough to actually sleep.

Before she had shooed Nancy, her personal aide, out of the med bay, she had brought Avasarala a new handheld. She checked her messages. To make them manageable, she moved everything from the media to the trash and moved everything from the UN to a separate folder. That left her with messages from her daughter, her grandchildren, Bobbie and Arjun.

She was about to press play on Arjun's message, when a tired-looking doctor walked up to her. "Everything's under control for now, so I can look at your leg." She pulled away the wrapping from Avasarala's thigh. "Whoever fixed you up did a good job. It's clean and all I have to do is put a strong sealant on the wounds."

"You better watch out doctor, I might take over your job," Drummer said as she entered the med bay. "Or not, since I need someone to patch up this cut."

"I'll look at yours after I'm finished here.”

“Besides, I bet you’d be a rotten captain of a warship,” Avasarala said to the doctor.

Both women stared at Avasarala in silence.

“I had to try.” Avasarala shrugged. “I’d be more subtle if I hadn’t spent a day crawling through a fucking space station.” Avasarala turned toward Drummer. "Thank you for your help, Camina."

Drummer bristled. "Don't think this makes us friends. I did what I had to do."

"Don't worry. I'm under no illusions."

The doctor finished her task. "You're free to go, Madam Secretary."

Avasarala nodded. Her security joined her on her way back to her quarters, somehow double to what it was before. She was going to have to keep her eye out for Camina Drummer. She had the potential to be at least a reluctant ally in the Belt. And it was absolutely certain she was going to have to get a few Earth assets onto the _Behemoth_. She needed to know what Johnson was up to.

But first, she was going to watch the messages from her family and sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Written before season 4 was released. All apologies for anything that is physically impossible or highly improbable.


End file.
